Taranaki mattress murder trial: Jury finds Leigh Beer guilty of killing Emma Field

WARNING: Some readers may find the details of this story distressing

A man who was drunk and angry when he flipped the bed his partner was sleeping on and then set fire to it, leaving her to burn to death, has been found guilty of her murder.

Leigh Matthew Frederick Beer, 33, has been in the High Court at New Plymouth defending charges of murder, arson and injuring with intent to injure in a trial that began on May 27.

He was charged following the death of his partner Emma Field, whose body was found perished on the bedroom floor of the couple’s New Plymouth flat following a fire that tore through the property on May 27, 2022.

Today, after three days of deliberation, the jury indicated at 1.45pm they had reached verdicts.

Justice Karen Grau addressed the packed public gallery, thanking Beer and Field’s supporters for the “grace and dignity” they had shown throughout the lengthy trial.

She acknowledged the heightened emotion and urged everyone to remain calm as the verdicts were heard.

As the foreperson delivered the unanimous verdicts of guilty to the three charges, Beer, dressed in the same black suit, mauve-coloured dress shirt and white skate shoes he had worn for the duration of the trial, stood still, his eyes fixed forward and his face flushed red.

With each verdict, gasps were heard from the family and friends of Field. Many were seen overcome with emotion. Beer’s supporters sat quietly.

Emma Field's body was found following a fire that ripped through her and Leigh Beer's New Plymouth flat on May 27, 2022. Photo / Supplied

Before discharging the jury, Justice Karen Grau thanked the jurors for their service in what she described as a difficult and distressing case.

“Thank you on behalf of the community. You can now get back to your lives.”

Beer was remanded back into custody ahead of his sentencing on September 11.

Immediately after the verdicts, Field’s family and friends gathered outside the court and released purple balloons in her honour. Some wore black hoodies featuring a photo of Field with a purple butterfly and the words “justice for Emma” emblazoned on the back.

Detective senior sergeant Gerard Bouterey acknowledged the toll the past two years had taken on Field’s family and said once Beer was sentenced, they would be able to focus on their grief.

He also acknowledged Beer’s family, saying there were no winners in such a tragedy.

Bouterey praised the Crown’s prosecution and police investigation teams, particularly detective sergeants Paula Drewery and Mark Stanton for their efforts.

He also thanked the community, pointing out the more than 60 witnesses in the case.

Emma Field’s family and friends gathered outside court to release balloons following the verdicts.

Bouterey said it had been a difficult investigation.

“Every time there is a fire it makes things difficult from the outset. In some of the scene examinations, what you expect to find is destroyed.

“But all that means is we have to be really thorough in the other investigative avenues.”

A moved bed and a fatal fire

During the trial, it was heard that on the night of the fire, Beer and Field had friends over and they listened to music, drank alcohol and shared an ecstasy pill.

They planned to head into town together but that never eventuated. Instead, Field went to bed after being subjected to disrespectful comments about her appearance by Beer in front of their friends.

He then, “out of the blue”, punched a glass window, causing blood to splatter throughout his doorway and his friends to leave for town without him.

Beer’s anger intensified after he was ditched, so he returned to their basement flat, in a divided villa on Devon Street West, and took it out on Field and their bed.

An investigation determined the fire began at the foot of the bed and was started by a naked flame. A cigarette lighter was found on Beer and a butane lighter at the scene had his blood on it.

Field was alive but likely unconscious when the blaze took hold.

A post-mortem determined she was still breathing after the fire started, and her cause of death was the effects of incineration.

They lived in the basement flat of the divided Devon Street West villa. Photo / Police

After the fire started, Beer, waited outside for it to grow, neglecting to phone 111, pull the fire alarm, get a fire extinguisher, or change his mind and save Field.

He then began a charade to save Field by hosing the flames, but did not make any real effort and resisted other people’s help.

The injuring with intent to injure charge related to a bystander who took the hose from Beer to assist, leading Beer to assault the man, which defence said was in self-defence.

Beer has maintained he was not responsible for lighting the fire or killing Field.

Defence lawyer Julian Hannam told the jury his client had no motive and that he and Field were a happy couple. He said the Crown’s case was simply speculation.

Hannam had claimed the investigation was tainted by police bias and accused them of not being open to other explanations for the fire.

The fire began in the couple's bedroom at the foot of their bed. Photo / Police

He said there had been a determination to charge someone and the focus was firmly on Beer.

It could not be ruled out that somebody else entered the flat, Hannam said, and he pointed the finger at former Mongrel Mob member, Edmond Cook, who had a history of arson and was staying in emergency accommodation near the couple’s flat.

Cook said in evidence his partner had heard “shenanigans” unfolding and urged him to check what was happening.

But Hannam highlighted Cook’s criminal history and told the jury his being at the scene was more than a coincidence.

While Beer had struggled to recall parts of the night, Hannam said that did not make him a liar.

Hannam said his client did “everything he could” to save Field, who was said to be Beer’s soulmate.

During Justice Grau’s summation of the case on Wednesday, she said it was circumstantial as no one saw what happened to Field or who lit the fire.

She said it was common for cases not to have eyewitnesses and asked the jurors to draw conclusions based on all inferences they accepted but not to guess or speculate.

The jury was told they could not be influenced by anything other than evidence and to set all prejudice, sympathy and emotion aside.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.